Foot In Mouth Disease

Regarding Louisville Coach Brian O'Hara's comments on the Alemany-Louisville girls basketball game: If the only way Louisville (with two All-Americans) can beat a team by three points is when an inexperienced team "chokes," then he isn't saying much for his own coaching or his own team. I don't suppose he mentioned that Louisville "choked" during the Christmas tournament in Santa Barbara against Gahr High and lost by 20 points. Also, in the same tournament, Louisville lost another one by 20 points to Reno.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry had his "oops" moment on a Michigan debate stage. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) mixed up actor John Wayne with serial killer John Wayne Gacy. And Herman Cain referred to "Ubeki-beki-beki-stan-stan. " The 2012 Republican presidential campaign has provided a bounty of infelicitous phrasings, wrongheaded assertions and embarrassing gaffes. There was Perry's memory lapse on the debate stage, which came to be known as his "oops moment. " There was Bachmann in Waterloo, Iowa, trumpeting her pride at hailing from the same hometown as John Wayne, only to learn that her homie was serial killer John Wayne Gacy.

Well, one thing you can say about some politicians in multicultural California: they manage to offend on an equal-opportunity basis. The latest chapter in the saga, "Politicians with Foot-in-Mouth Disease," belongs to Assemblywoman Kathleen M. Honeycutt (R-Hesperia).

With Hasim Rahman's victory over Lennox Lewis, Rahman and John Ruiz stand atop the heavyweight division. What have boxing fans done to deserve this? JIM MENDES Los Angeles It appears that Lennox Lewis lost his championship because he suffered from "foot in mouth" disease. HOWARD MATIONG Gardena

I agree with your editorial "Foot in Mouth Disease (Cont.)" (July 10) and it is probably true that "sorry" somehow doesn't quite take back the insidious effects of uttering racist poems and ethnic slurs. May I point out that The Times apparently saw no "insidious effects" when you printed this headline "Are Voters Schizophrenic or Sane?" (Capitol Journal, March 29). A short time later a headline asked were voters "schizo"? Am I the only reader to object to such mindless discrimination toward the only physical disorder I ever see misused so frequently in print?

Nations from Australia to Latvia slapped bans on European Union meat and livestock Wednesday, restrictions aimed at preventing the spread of a virulent disease that has cropped up among farm animals in France and Britain. Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Norway were the latest countries to announce bans on imports of livestock and meat products from the 15-nation EU after foot-and-mouth disease was found Tuesday among cattle in northwestern France.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry had his "oops" moment on a Michigan debate stage. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) mixed up actor John Wayne with serial killer John Wayne Gacy. And Herman Cain referred to "Ubeki-beki-beki-stan-stan. " The 2012 Republican presidential campaign has provided a bounty of infelicitous phrasings, wrongheaded assertions and embarrassing gaffes. There was Perry's memory lapse on the debate stage, which came to be known as his "oops moment. " There was Bachmann in Waterloo, Iowa, trumpeting her pride at hailing from the same hometown as John Wayne, only to learn that her homie was serial killer John Wayne Gacy.

We all say things we later regret. I call these "Oh-my-God-isms." As in, "Oh my God, did I really say that?" The difference between us saying these things and public figures saying these things is that we have fewer people to apologize to afterward. Recently, a Texas politician said a very stupid thing, which almost goes with the territory in Texas. The trouble with Texas politics is that everybody there wants to sound "down-home."

The man trying to provide Rep. Todd Akin the softest possible landing after the congressman's foolish comments about pregnancy and rape was former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a strong supporter of Akin during his run to represent Missouri in the U.S. Senate. In the furor over Akin's remarks and increasing pressure for him to drop out of his race against Sen. Claire McCaskill, Huckabee used his syndicated radio program Monday to give the embattled candidate a safe venue to express remorse and his determination to remain in the race.

For some in political high places, foot-in-mouth disease causes a raging fever for a few miserable days and then passes. For Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott, the question was when -- and how -- his fate would be decided in a case that had consumed Washington's talk show and Christmas party circuits. On Friday, after two long weeks, the case proved terminal with Lott's announcement that he would bow out as Senate GOP leader. He infected himself on Dec.

With Hasim Rahman's victory over Lennox Lewis, Rahman and John Ruiz stand atop the heavyweight division. What have boxing fans done to deserve this? JIM MENDES Los Angeles It appears that Lennox Lewis lost his championship because he suffered from "foot in mouth" disease. HOWARD MATIONG Gardena

Nations from Australia to Latvia slapped bans on European Union meat and livestock Wednesday, restrictions aimed at preventing the spread of a virulent disease that has cropped up among farm animals in France and Britain. Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Norway were the latest countries to announce bans on imports of livestock and meat products from the 15-nation EU after foot-and-mouth disease was found Tuesday among cattle in northwestern France.

I agree with your editorial "Foot in Mouth Disease (Cont.)" (July 10) and it is probably true that "sorry" somehow doesn't quite take back the insidious effects of uttering racist poems and ethnic slurs. May I point out that The Times apparently saw no "insidious effects" when you printed this headline "Are Voters Schizophrenic or Sane?" (Capitol Journal, March 29). A short time later a headline asked were voters "schizo"? Am I the only reader to object to such mindless discrimination toward the only physical disorder I ever see misused so frequently in print?

Well, one thing you can say about some politicians in multicultural California: they manage to offend on an equal-opportunity basis. The latest chapter in the saga, "Politicians with Foot-in-Mouth Disease," belongs to Assemblywoman Kathleen M. Honeycutt (R-Hesperia).

We all say things we later regret. I call these "Oh-my-God-isms." As in, "Oh my God, did I really say that?" The difference between us saying these things and public figures saying these things is that we have fewer people to apologize to afterward. Recently, a Texas politician said a very stupid thing, which almost goes with the territory in Texas. The trouble with Texas politics is that everybody there wants to sound "down-home."